Those who know me are well aware of my love of the National Hockey League and its Toronto Maple Leafs. I’m a long-suffering diehard, like many others, and practically bleed blue and white. Not only that, but as both a gamer and a hockey fan, I’m also someone who plays each new instalment of EA Sports’ NHL franchise to death, while dreaming about what may come next.

Today was a great day, because one of my biggest hopes for E3 2014 came true, as I was able to spend quite a bit of time with NHL 15. It’s a big deal, and an even bigger title, because this year marks the series’ next-gen debut, and with it comes a host of new features, improvements and additions.

Following a PowerPoint slideshow presentation, which highlighted the game’s new features, we were able to go hands-on with Exhibition Mode and its four available teams, the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. I’ll talk more about that in a bit, though, because I feel that it’s important to highlight the game’s many improvements first.